Parker Coonawarra Estate 95 Block 2020
- 92
- $65
- Drink by: 2023-2035
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A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. There is just 9% of the latter but it makes its presence felt with a notable degree of tannin. At this early stage, 95 Block, which hails from the cooler south of Coonawarra, is firmly, resolutely tight as a drum thanks in part to the role of Petit Verdot. Consider this an invitation to open the cellar or place the wine in the wardrobe or under the bed. Some further time in bottle will be rewarded because the hallmarks for a beautiful future are there. Cigar box notes mix with tilled earth, tobacco leaf, blackberry and a flurry of distinctive vegetal/herbal scents. That vegetal edge leaves a firm signature when you taste, combined with sinewy, cherry pip tannins. Fruit is still emerging, but it will, don’t worry. In many ways, this is old school Coonawarra Cabernet with some help from its Petit Verdot Bordeaux ally and friend. It offers another view of the style, one with time on its side.
Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.
